Tales of their Adult Years
by Lizardios
Summary: Sister stories to the Tales of their Childhood just in their adult years. What do the fierce beasts that you call in battle do when they aren't summoned in battle.
1. Laments

Disclaimer: I do not own Bahamut, much as I would love to. Imagine, having Bahamut as a pet.

Note: Some things in these short stories may be loosely related to an RPG I once began. Don't worry, you don't have to have played the RPG to understand.

Title: Laments of a Dragon King

Genre: General/Bit of angst at the end

Summery: Bahamut remembers

* * *

People usually assume that we came from nowhere, and have always been around, aiding those that can summon us in battle. Well, usually. Spira was different, because we technically didn't exist until we were locked within stone, for a perverted cause. But even on other worlds, where we have existed as far back as the humans history can tell, we didn't just magically pop into existence. I wish it were quite as easy as that.

No. You stand there, listening to me, you shall realize the truth. Our history is a bit more complex then magically appearing on each world. We do come from somewhere. We were once human, just like you. Humans who either had a tragic life that came to an equally tragic end, or those that earned it with their valor. The Knights of the Round, they actually **are** the original Knights of the Round Table. They earned the right to help like that, though I've never seen them since the Meteor Crisis.

Myself, I was under the category of 'tragic life'. Yeah, sad, isn't it? The King of Dragons started out life as a grubby orphaned child, who was killed at 14 or stumbling across Area 51. Shot by the guards. Still don't know whether it was an accident, or whether it was a deliberate act of murder. Doesn't really matter now. Fate decided I was to take on the role of leader of those that were chosen. That caused a big stir amongst them: '_a dirty little 14 year old orphan, leading us?'_ People like Odin became very vocal about it. Didn't stop it from happening. I don't even want this. I want to be good and actually dead! Not fighting more and more evils until time itself ends. Did you know that almost happened once? A sorceress named Ultimecia decided it would be a wonderful idea to compress time. She was a bitch. Corrupted my sister too, now she can never truly be one of us.

Out of all of us, only 3 of us are **always** involved in the crises of the worlds. Myself, Shiva and Ifrit. Because of this, we're much closer then any of the others. They fall under the category of having tragic lives as well. Ifrit, my best friend, he was once a pyromaniac. The town he grew up in beat him to death with red hot steel rods. No wonder he's a fire elemental. Shiva, she was of Japanese origin. Her family was murdered, and instead of becoming a slave to the murderer, she resisted. Her reward... she was raped and then left in the snow in her underwear. She froze to death. That explains both the ice elemental part, and the usually lacking clothes. Not that I'm complaining. But that one incident did leave its mark, she now fears human males. If ever I'm in human form, she can't to talk to me, she literally frozen in fear. Ifrit and I are the only males she trusts at all, even when not in human form.

Ah yes. Human form. Bet you never new that we have always had the ability to change between our human selves and our... other selves. Though they never realize it, I've met, and spoken to, each and every Hero of Fate, although my memory is blurry of those before Terra and the Kefka crisis. But I clearly remember Cloud onwards. If you were to ever ask Cloud Strife about his past, in his hometown, he may well mention a boy named Rex. That was me. I was possibly Cloud's only real friend. I was the one that gave him the idea of trying to get into SOLDIER. I wouldn't call it being manipulative, I'd call it saving his, and the rest of the world's, lives. I only wish that there could have been a way to help him do so without the mental damage he received as a result of Hojo's meddling. Then, later on, when he first reached Costa del Sol, after the first fight he had with Jenova, he played football with me. He won. Cheating Mako enhanced son of a... But I did play a slightly more vital role. Remember Cloud's being found on Mideel? How do you think he got there? Who do you think found him washed up on the shore? Me.

Even after the initial crisis was over, I still remained. It had become a hobby of sorts for me, to stay with the heroes as much as I could in human form. Later, as in two years later, I assumed the form of an orphan: Denzel, the Geosigma stricken orphan that Tifa and Cloud adopted. Yes, that was me. Before you ask about the 4 Dragon forms that I had on that would, I'll tell you now, they were shadows. The Lifestream on that world had a strange affect and created shadows of me. Now if Kadaj had summoned my true form, then I would have disappeared and reappeared as a dragon. Instead, I remained because a shadow had been summoned. And Bahamut SIN would not have hurt me during my charging at it, it would have recognized my scent as that of its original, and just tried to 'scare' me off. And I do believe that it was a bastard, it's me isn't it? And I know that I'm a bastard, so it stands to reason my shadows would be too. Regrettably, I 'died' of unknown causes a couple of years later.

The Sorceress Incident. I was there as well. Heck, I had more human forms on that world then any other. I don't know why, but Squall fascinated me. Maybe it was his being an orphan, despite his father being alive without his knowing. I don't know. Shiva, Ifrit and Leviathan both decided to join me in the talking to him as humans that time. Though only once did we do a disguise of being a family. The Resistance group in Timber actually. I was the child that asked for Gil from Squall when he peeked out our window. Leviathan was the older sister, Shiva the mother, Ifrit the younger brother. Trust Shiva to get so into her role though. I don't think my rear end had ever been in so much pain. Wait, there was that one time, eons ago. I wish I could say that the crying when I apologized to Squall was just good acting on my part. Regretfully, I can't. Humans have a much lower pain resistance then my dragon form, and being a child, do you really think that it helped null the pain? Ifrit still refuses to let me live that incident down, always bringing it up as blackmail against me; and to think I had been joking about the getting paid part. Probably didn't help that I was a male.

Do you remember that kid that was always running around Garden? The one training? Me again. I know, I know, I seem to favor being a kid as opposed to someone grown up. Perhaps the reason for that is because I never truly had a childhood. Being an orphan doesn't exactly do wonders to your innocence. But I did have a few adult forms. Squall spoke to me in the Timber Maniacs. I decided to just keep talking and talking and talking. I actually bored myself with just sprouting whatever came to mind, so I hate to imagine how Squall felt. I don't know about who the others were, but I do know one of Ifrit's forms. During the Galbadian occupation of Balamb, he was the weird man behind the cars. The one that offered tips. We both had a good laugh at the amount of times they came back to him, for more and more tips.

The Kuja Crisis. I was there, yet again. No, I was not Puck! I don't take on forms of royalty, and he was the prince if you recall. I did befriend Vivi though. I remember finding him crying his eyes out after Brahne summoned Atomos and used the Black Mages to invade Lindblum. I tried to cheer him up, but I couldn't find the words, because, while I had been alone all my life, I had never found that there were those in my exact image being used to destroy. It was partially my fault that the guards found him and dragged him to the Regent. I had been standing, talking to him when he was slouched over behind a pile of rubble, and a guard thought that I was alone and came over to take me to where all the survivors were being gathered to. He found Vivi and jumped to the wrong conclusions. If only I'd been allowed to kick idiot where the sun don't shine for being a prejudiced...

The Spira incident. Tidus saw my favorite appearance during that time, and knew who I was eventually, but he never suspected my other appearances. I still can't believe he kicked my blitzball and lost it. I liked that blitzball; it gave me something to do that didn't involve stalking the heroes. Oh well, he condemned himself, that's my defense. If he'd left it be, I would have only appeared as the cryptic and strange kid that tells him not to cry. He he, Tidus was to easy to annoy. I liked Yuna though. Where most of the time when summoned, I'm treated as a weapon or tool, Yuna treated me as a living breathing being. And where most would be afraid, she actually once kissed me on my scaly cheek in thank you for helping her. That was a first. The only other time one of us was ever kissed was when Terra's parents were an item. One human, the other Esper, as we were called then. Yuna was definitely one of our favorite summoners. I recall those of us who hadn't been involved in the Sin Crisis being jealous of those of us who were. How often is it that you find a summoner who shows you respect, no matter what you look like? Shiva once didn't even ask for her cloak back from Yuna, letting the young summoner keep it.

After the Sin Crisis and the whole Vegnagun ordeal came up, we were forced to fight against Yuna. A moment I wish to never repeat. The sadness in Yuna's eyes when we were killed in the fight against Yu Yevon had been bad enough, but here, it had looked as if we were fighting of our own free will, and Yuna cried at second deaths. As a thank you, we brought Tidus to life after she beat Shuyin. Fate had never said anything about us thanking people as such when we were directly involved in the villains schemes, when we had been awaiting our next call of duty. Yes, we have been forced to do evil before, myself being one of the worst in that case, since I am usually that much more powerful then the others, but somehow, it felt a little more personal when we were forced to fight Yuna. Phoenix understood this, despite not being one of those involved, reviving Tidus easily. Dream or not, Phoenix managed to resurrect him.

You know, it's strange. I've lived for over 10,000 years and I still have the same mentality as I did when I was 14. Sure, I'm a hell of a lot wiser now. Smarter: yes. More mature: nope. As I've explained, I seem to be making up for a lifetime of lost youth. But still, here I am, with the mentality of a 14 year old. Bet the heroes would all avoid me if they new I was a teenaged King of Dragons. It's annoying though, because I have a thing for Shiva, and will she ever notice me? I sincerely doubt it. She came from an upper class family, and sometimes her mannerisms show that fact off. What would she ever want with a filthy little orphan like me? And then there's her fear of males. For the King of Dragons, I don't have a lot. Just the being worshiped by every dragon I come across, even when in human form.

Ask any of us though, and we'll all tell you that growing up with our new forms was a pain. That's right. After our deaths, we were reborn, in a manner of speaking. We couldn't switch between human and our new forms for fifty of your years, for us it was longer though. But we were reborn, and despite the memories of our previous lives, we were children, and thus had to re-mature. Though in my case, as you know, I just stayed as a child in maturity, at least, after a great period of depression. Yes, I do get depressed; I had died, then suddenly I was thrust into this whole new world. But I didn't look quite as fierce back then, I looked way too cute. One of the terms you humans would use would probably be 'chibi.' Because of my future role, however, I was the one who was bullied a lot. Who wanted to be led by a cute little lizard? Odin was vocal about his not wanting to be led by me, but at least he was honorable enough to protect me when he could. I often saw Odin as an older brother-figure. We have our disagreements, but he was always willing to help me when the others decided to bully me. The same with the Knights, they were honorable enough not to get physical and sometimes protected me, but they always believed that Author should have been the leader, having been their King and most certainly a good leader. I believed he should have as well. I was an orphan, someone who was cursed at all my life, who was I to lead a group of powerful beings in an eternal battle against evil? Yet Fate was persistent.

Fate? Yes, the entity who controls destiny. Yes, it is a powerful entity, not some superstition. He, at least, I believe it's a he, was the one who chose us. He is the only one we answer to a whole. But he chose me to lead them. I had begged not to be the one. I'm no leader. My sister died because of ME! How can I be entrusted with the lives of these people? He never answered. The last thing we ever heard of him was that I was to be the leader, whether we all like it or not. Well, here I am. Do I look like I enjoy my task? I don't. Even though the others all respect me, I still don't want this role. King of Dragons, I can handle; leading them, I... I don't want to, I don't like it, and I'd rather Fate chose someone else, like Author, or Odin. Anyone but me. But any attempt I make at letting someone else have the job, they now refuse. Shiva and Ifrit, my two best friends, always there in every crisis, helping me. They are my support. I shouldn't need a support. I don't even deserve this task. I was shot in the head, I should be dead! Not fighting evil 'till he end of time!

But... I feel an obligation. As much as I despise it, I still do my job. I'm obligated to help people I don't even know, and probably never will. Perhaps that's why fate chose me... Because I hold no prejudice over humanity, despite having been shunned by them ever since I was one of them. Perhaps it's because of that obligation. I'll never know, Fate resides in a whole other realm from even where **we** reside.

You probably think of me as weak. I am weak. But everyone refuses to see it. No one sees the flaws. Only the few good points.

I'm weak. And I'm a coward.

Yet I keep fighting.

-End


	2. Familial Ties

Disclaimer: As much as I like Bahamut, and would absolutely love to own him as a pet, I don't. Nor do I own Final Fantasy.

Title: Familial Ties

Summery: Terra has a talk with a strange boy

* * *

Terra sighed, watching the orphans playing. They considered her their mama, now that their parents were more of a memory then anything else. She now protected them, and raised them like her own. She hoped that she wasn't doing the original, the real parents a dis-justice by allowing the orphans to call her mama, but she could sense their need for a mother-figure, and to discourage them from thinking her their mama might make them stop thinking of her as a mother figure.

The fight against Phunbaba had been depressing, to learn that her fighting edge, he ability to tap into her Esper side, gone, just like that. If it hadn't been for her friends, she would have been killed, and then where would the orphans be? Truly alone, with no-one, since Sabin and Celes weren't going to stop their quest just to look after the orphans, not when they were so set on killing Kefka, hopefully making right all the wrongs in this world turned upside down.

Terra sensed someone watching her, had felt them for a while now, but had ignored it. She turned and looked behind her. Sitting on a fence, was a young boy, who was staring at her intently. At first, she dismissed him as one of the orphans, but upon closer examination, she realised that this wasn't one of the orphans that lived here. The boy's had light brown hair, almost blond, and wore a black tunic, with the sleeves torn off, and a pair of blue trousers, made of a fabric that Terra was unfamiliar with. Shrugging to herself, Terra turned back to towards where the orphans were, watching the youngest of them play tag.

"Your father was a great man."

Terra tensed, knowing that the boy was talking to her. She turned to face him again, eyes narrowed. The boy looked at her sadly.

"He didn't deserve his fate." The boy continued. "Nor did your mother."

"And what would you know of them?" Terra asked, voice strained.

The boy sighed sadly, before looking up at the sky.

"I was friends with Maduin towards the end of his life. He was a lucky man, marrying Madonna. I remember you, when you were newly born." The Boy grinned, softly, remembering something or other. "You peed on me."

Terra shook her head.

"Impossible. You have to be at least 4 years younger then me." She declared.

The boy's grin widened. "A hundred thousand years older then you roundabout. I stopped keeping track of how old I am after the first thousand."

The half Esper glared at the boy, getting tired of this joke.

"If Kefka send you to annoy me, tell him I'm not fighting him, or doing anything against him, I'm just looking after orphans."

"Why would Kefka send me? He'd sooner just obliterate you from his tower. Believe me, I am telling the truth. I have no reason to lie to you. Why would I lie to the girl that peed on me the first time I ever picked you up? That's not something people just up and say to people these days is it?"

The boy hopped off the fence and stepped right up to Terra, looking her in the eye.

"How many times do you dream about a world where your mother was the only human? Yeah, sure, there were humanoids, but as human as Shiva and Ramuh were, and as much as they all have human forms, they still weren't human."

"Every night." Terra whispered softly, eyes glazing over slightly at the memory of her home. "But how do you..."

"Tell me. Do you remember a great big dragon? Silvery blue? Happened to be considered the King of Dragons?"

"Vaguely. But my memories of the place faded from time."

"Well... at least you vaguely remember me." The boy grinned.

"You? You're..."

"My name is Bahamut. I was named your god-father, though because you were dragged through the blasted door, I couldn't do the god-fatherly thing to do. Just added up to my other failings in life."

Terra shook her head fiercely.

"You're lying!" She declared.

"I won't turn into my proper form, since I'd terrify the orphans, but I assure you, I'm not lying. Your parents called you Tina before they died, didn't they? And you loved playing with Carbuncle, but you had a habit of calling him 'cute wibble wabbit', much to his displeasure."

Bahamut laughed at the memory, shaking his head. Terra paused. A part of her wanted her not to believe this boy, believe that it was a sick joke, just his comments, rolling so easily off his tongue, were some of the few memories she had regained of her birthplace. She was inclined to believe him. Bahamut sighed again, looking at her.

"You remind me of both of your parents. You have your mothers beauty, and your fathers courageous spirit." He poked a finger at Terra's chest, where her heart was. "Remember that they'll always be with you, and that they love you very much."

Again, the boy paused, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a locket, and handing it to Terra.

"Your mother would have wanted you to have this. I can't remember a time that she ever took it off. The chain was broken in the fighting, so you'll have to replace it, but the actual locket is in perfect condition." He told her, looking uneasy.

Terra accepted the locket gingerly. Fingers trembling, she opened the locket and saw two pictures looking back at her. One was of the mother she could barely remember, the other was her father, looking proud, holding onto a baby. The artwork on the miniature portraits astounded her, making her feel that she was actually there, looking at her parents. She looked back at Bahamut, who was smiling softly at her.

"They would be proud you." He said, eyes downcast.

Terra paused for a moment, before grabbing the boy and softly kissing his forehead. Bahamut grinned, mouthing a small thank you, before fading out of existence.

"No, thank **you.**" Terra corrected, looking at the images in the locket again.

-End

* * *

Not super, not one of my best, but I couldn't get the idea outta my head.  



End file.
